The present invention is directed to a wheel carrier of the type adapted to be mounted on a motor vehicle for carrying a spare wheel for the motor vehicle.
Spare wheel carriers have been used to carry a spare wheel for a motor vehicle, such as a passenger car, truck, or van. Such spare wheel carriers are typically mounted on the rear of the vehicle. One such spare wheel carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,157 to Raywood C. Weiler. That wheel carrier is adapted to be mounted to the door of a motor vehicle, such as the rear door of a van, via a mounting mechanism so that the spare wheel pivots with the door.
Another wheel carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,834 to Raywood C. Weiler. That wheel carrier has a first mounting bracket that is attached to the bumper of the vehicle and a second mounting bracket that is attached to a rear door of the vehicle. The first mounting bracket is connected to a carrier arm which supports the spare wheel. The carrier arm is pivotable between a first position in which the spare wheel is disposed adjacent the rear door of the vehicle and a second position in which the spare wheel is disposed away from the rear door.
Other spare wheel carriers having different designs have been utilized. One problem with conventional spare wheel carriers is that the process for mounting them on a motor vehicle is unduly complicated. For example, mounting a spare wheel carrier on a motor vehicle may require attachment of the carrier to the motor vehicle at several points, which may require a relatively long time and a relatively large number of mounting tools. One spare wheel carrier currently marketed by Chrysler Corporation comes with approximately 20 pages of mounting instructions and is believed to require between seven and nine hours for mounting it to the vehicle. Another problem with conventional spare wheel carriers is that the process for mounting them requires permanent alteration of a motor vehicle as by drilling holes in the bumper and/or body.